They all get back in the saddle together but with a little less enthusiasm. Four months after their final day of action against pension reform, the eight main employee unions and five youth defense organizations are preparing to once again occupy public space, Friday October 13. Three slogans were put forward: ” wages “, “gender equality” and opposition to the policies of“austerity”. An initiative that allows the protagonists to show off their muscles, three days before a “social conference” during which they must discuss with the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, about remuneration and career developments.
Friday’s mobilization is part of an appeal launched by the European Trade Union Confederation (CES) at the level of the Old Continent. In France, demonstrations and rallies are planned in nearly 220 places. No one, including worker representatives, expects ” a tsunami “according to the formula of Benoît Teste, general secretary of the FSU, even if “we feel that things are simmering and that the anger is there”.
Cyril Chabanier, the president of the CFTC, says that he “had more difficulty mobilizing” than during the movement against the postponement of the legal retirement age, from mid-January to early June. Which is ” normal “according to him: many women and men have suffered “lost wages” by striking in the first half of the year, without preventing the government from pushing through its project. Hence the feeling, quite widespread after this defeat of the inter-union, of having “a bit hungover”, confides an activist. Finally, the date chosen for hitting the streets – a Friday, therefore – hardly lends itself to demonstrations of force.
Disruptions are expected to be relatively limited
This is why this day of action should cause relatively limited disruption in the functioning of businesses and public services. The SNCF anticipates disruptions on certain regional lines and in Ile-de-France, but with normal traffic for the TGVs. At RATP, no notable difficulties were announced. In the airline sector, on the other hand, a significant proportion of flights have been canceled. As for national education personnel, their participation in the movement could be noted in a certain number of establishments, according to Mr. Teste.
Even if they are struggling, for the moment, to draw people into the streets, all the union leaders want to take advantage of this day of mobilization to “to make heard the primary concern of workers at the moment, namely purchasing power”, as explained by Marylise Léon, the general secretary of the CFDT. A petition of principle defended by all his counterparts. “We want to obtain the opening of salary negotiations in all branches and all companies”, insists Sophie Binet, the leader of the CGT. Frédéric Souillot, FO number one, calls for “an upward revision of all pay slips”. It is necessary to put “a blow of pressure in a period where inflation remains at high levels”adds Mr. Chabanier.
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